[Welcome to the First phase]

[Objective One: Survive for 5 hours]

[Reward: Progression to Objective Two]

Caleb stared at the message, his expression grim.

“What do we do?” Sierra said.

[It’s the same as the tutorial right? Just less time] Kana said. [So maybe there's somewhere safe around here]

[And if there’s not?] David said. A grim silence descended on the group. [I know you can fight and all, but you had help. If something attacks us, we won’t be able to help you. We don’t even have weapons. We should look, but be prepared to make our own safe space]

“He’s right” Michael said. “Maybe the videogame stuff's right, but it’s better to play it safe. It’s only five hours and then maybe something else that’s quick and we get to go home”

“No” Caleb said. Everyone turned to him, a few with raised eyebrows. “Not to the shelter or safe space. To going home.”

[What do you mean?] David asked.

“There's not an easy way to say this, but... we'll probably be here around three months”

“What?!” Michael said loudly.

“D-did the people from the tutorial tell you that?” Layla said.

“No, no. It was the arbiter thing before the tutorial”

[What arbiter thing?]

"The screen before we teleported into the tutorial. I asked it questions and it told me"

“Three months" Michael said wide eyed. "And you're sure?”

“Yeah. It said the average time is three months.”

[Average?! We could be here longer?] David said.

“I don’t know. Maybe” Caleb said. His already sweaty palms grew sweatier, and his heart sunk as he watched the faces of everyone around him fall.

He’d killed the mood, along with any small hope they'd been holding onto. And he'd done it at probably the worst possible time. He clenched his fist in frustration, digging his nails into the skin of his palm.

You idiot

[Ok. We can talk about this later, but right now we need to move. If this is like the tutorial, then we need to find somewhere before we get attacked] David said. His words seemed to pull the teens from their stupor, and they all nodded.

“Alright. The plan is, we go find a village was downstream?” Sierra said.

[Yeah] David replied. [Well look for an hour, and if we don’t find anything we’ll set up camp. If we find somewhere really good along the way we can camp out anyway. Is that good?]

“Sounds perfect” Michael said.

"Ok. Let's go" Sierra nodded. Together everyone began making their way forwards. As they did, Caleb stepped into a walk beside Ryan, looking to the floor with a forlorn expression.

Three months, he thought. Three whole months.

It'd felt bad before, but now that the weight of that time in a place like this was really starting to sink in, he was starting to feel hopeless.

Constantly worrying about survival from monstrous creatures whilst his own lungs steadily killed him from the inside out didn't exactly seem like the best way to go. And sure, he had the magic of the record now, but there was no guarantee he'd be able to use it to cure himself. He clenched his trembling hands tightly, digging his nails deep into the skin of his palms.

Almost involuntarily, a small part of his mind began to wonder if maybe, just maybe it would've been better to die in the tutorial.

No, he thought. Now you're just being stupid.

Ryan glanced to his friend, noticing the distant look in his eyes and his trembling hands.

“Caleb?” Ryan said tapping on the shoulder.

“Huh?”

“You ok?”

“Yeah” Caleb replied. "I'm fine"

-

The group had been walking for a while, and the storm hadn’t let up. It sounded much more distant now they were underneath the canopy of leaves, the constant patter creating a hum lower than the steady rush of the river. But it was still definitely there.

A teetering hum, marked by the occasional rumble of thunder. It had been unsettling, at first, but now the deep bass of far away thunder penetrating even through the canopy was almost soothing. Almost.

Caleb trudged through thick undergrowth and relatively dry mud, following the path Sierra had cut through the plant life from ahead. The others spoke amongst themselves, a mixture of chatter, those ahead quiet, and those louder, more jovial, from the group behind him.

Ryan and Caleb had talked, but Ryan’s constant jumping at the thunder and distant sounds Caleb couldn’t hear had killed any light heartedness their conversation had.

So, Caleb just observed. It came to him naturally, his thoughts drawn to his surroundings.

He spared another glance around at jungle. The trees were recognisable but different, a strange mix of the familiar and the unknown. They were a bit taller too, at least they seemed that way. He hadn't exactly been in the heart of a rainforest before.

Still, and he didn’t know what exactly it was, but even with the threat of monsters, the relative silence underneath this canopy made him uneasy. Maybe it was just the fact the rainforest served as a reminder for the fact he was on a different planet.

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His surroundings looked like a rainforest, but was devoid of all it's usual noises except that of the rain. No chirping cicadas, not the tweets of distant birds, nothing. Just the river, and the storm. It was uncanny.

He shook his head, trying to dispel the uneasiness, but it remained. He'd just have to live with it.

He looked to the river again, staring at some of the small boulders on the bank. He looked at each one as they passed by, wondering how long they’d been there untouched, unseen. Then he frowned. He looked around again, feeling his chest constrict slightly.

It’s getting darker.

“First phase check” he whispered.

[First Phase Objective One: Survive for 5 hours]

[Time remaining: 4 hrs 2 mins 39 secs]

They were due to stop any time now. It was good, they’d be able to set up camp and he’d finally be spared the effort of exertion. His feet were starting to hurt and despite the runes covering his body, enhancing it, he was out of breath, his side throbbing dully. Not nearly as much he'd expected though. The runes really were something.

He frowned as he focused on the sensation of runes, not just on his skin, but on his mind. He focused on the sleeves too, feeling how different they felt. It was hard to make a comparison to a previous state of mind, but he knew they were different.

The feeling felt fuller now, less disconnected from him. He didn’t even have to really focus on it to feel it. He recalled the way it’d changed during the transition from the tutorial to first phase. He focused on the feeling and for a moment, closing his eyes as his mind strained.

Nothing happened for a moment, then he felt it push beyond himself. His eyes flew open as instantly the jungle around him took on an entirely different texture.

He stumbled slightly, whipping his head as he looked around at the others.

He could sense them in a new way. Could feel their magical weight in his mind, even without touching them. Layla’s was the heaviest, then Michael’s, Kana’s, his own, Ryan’s, and finally Sierra’s. The others were all lighter, but harder to distinguish apart, all around the same level.

Still, everyone’s weight was noticeably heavier than that of the plants and trees in the background around them.

“Caleb?” Ryan said, looking to him.

“Huh?"

"You alright?"

"Oh yeah, I’m fine” Caleb said,

“You sure? Your eyes just got all wide” he said.

“Well I… uh… I think I just got a new sense”

“What?”

“Uh... how to explain" he muttered. "You know the feeling from the transition? When you lost our body, saw all those stars? You could feel... their weight?”

“Wait, you can do that?”

“I’m doing it now”

“How?”

“I don’t know I just focused on it. It's... I can feel everyone’s magic presence or something. I don’t know”

“What do you mean you don’t know. You’re doing it right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I’m trying to anymore. It’s just happening”

“You said you just focused right?”

“Yeah?”

“Let me try this”

Ryan furrowed his brow for a second, and held his breath. For a few moments he was silent, his face growing redder bit by bit. Caleb didn't know whether to let him keep trying or stop him from embarrassing himself.

[Alright guys] David said. [Let’s stop here]

“Finally” Layla said, slumping against a tree.

[We’re not just resting, we’re going to set up camp]

“Here? Isn’t it a bit… open?”

[It is, but it’s getting darker quick. At least here’s shielded by the rain] David said. [Uh… we can set up spikes and stuff to protect us if you want? Sleep in shifts?]

“We’ll sort that out after. Let’s set up camp then” Michael said. “Is here good with everyone?”

Everyone nodded, none with any better ideas.

[Ok… we’ll clear the ground here. We can do that with your swords, then we can use the plants for the exterior and to cushion the ground and branches as the frame for the tents] David said.

“We have spare clothes” Ryan said. “We can pull them apart, use them instead of plants for cushions”

[Perfect. Uhh… you guys cut down the plants and give us the clothes to pull apart]

Caleb and the others who’d been in the desert pulled off their backpacks and handed them to Michael’s group.

Then they took their swords and carefully cleared the planet in a large swathe. Then together everyone used the branches and sturdier stems to construct the frames. It was relatively fsst with all of them working together, and they quickly finished, draping the silks over the frames, then covering them with more plants.

[If we hide it behind some more leaves… perfect] David said stepping back. The four mini shelters they’d made looked shoddy, but they’d only be using them for a few hours. They’d be fine.

[Now, it’s time for food] Mario said.

“What about the spikes?” Caleb said.

“We probably won’t need them” Layla said. “I mean we haven’t even seen any monsters yet”

“Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us” Sierra said.

[We can decide later. I’m hungry, let’s eat] Mario said.

“Yeah, let’s eat” Michael said rubbing his hands together. “Make the spikes after”

The group all turned to the bags and pulled out a few wrapped pieces of food.

[Not too much, guys. We might need to ration] David said.

[It’ll be fine.] Mario replied, unwrapping a piece of meat. He pulled away from it instantly holding his nose.

[Is it off?] Kana said worried.

[Does that smell good to you?] Mario said, holding it up to her. She instantly pulled away too, making a face. Ss the smell wafted closer to Caleb, he gagged, covering his mouth and nose. He looked to the others all of them stepping back from the meat.

Crap, did we get screwed?

Mario set the meat in it’s wrap down, then tested another wrapped piece and turned away from it.

“Shit. We got swindled” Sierra cursed.

“T-try another bag” Ryan said. Mario pulled another slice of meat out of one of the bags and sniffed at it without even opening the packaging. He still pulled away.

“Is it all off?” Layla asked, panicked.

[Fuck] Mario swore. [Now we have no food. I can’t sleep on an empty stomach]

[There’s still the fruit right?] Elena said. Mario quickly searched the bag as David picked up the slabs of meat inspecting them.

[Yeah, there’s still fruit, but it’s all… weird] Mario said.

“It’s fine though. Still something to eat” Michael said.

"Unless it's poisonous" Ryan muttered. A few glanced to him, then back to Mario who stared at the weird purplish blue sphere.

[The cuts are fine] David spoke, sniffing the meat. [They smell strong because of the wrapping and because they’re bone in cuts. If we cook them they should be fine to eat.]

“You sure?” Michael said.

[Yes]

[I’m not eating any of that] Mario said.

“I’m with him on this” Sierra said, still holding her nose.

“I’m not saying I would eat any, but how would we even cook it?” Layla said.

[Did you not get matches?] David said looking to the others.

"Well, the Endagon weren’t exactly starved of ways to start fire" Ryan muttered.

[Then we can just eat the fruit for now] David said.

[Wait] Mario said. [We have the skills. Maybe there is magic that lets you create fire]

Everyone went silent, their eyes widening.

[W-what? It was just an idea] Mario responded.

“No, it’s a good idea” Michael said. “I’ll check”

The others all looked to each other again, uncertain, then back to Michael who stared into the space in front of him wide eyed.

“Michael? You ok?” Layla asked.

“Yeah, I just… holy shit there are a lot of skills” he mumbled.

“How many?”

“I don’t… oh… twelve billion”

“W-what?!”

“I- yeah. They’ve all got crazy names. You can definitely get a fire power” Michael said. “There’s like… hundreds of thousands. Oh. There's fifty seven million, seven hundred and forty nine thousand, five hundred and ninety two.”

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at him, befuddled.

[So... you want to get one?] David said, looking to him.

“I mean, we need the fire now, don't we? Or at least we will eventually. We’re going to be here for three months after all”

[But are you ok with it? It’s permanent]

“Uh… I don’t see why not?” Michael said. “I mean ‘Beholder of Azalon’s breath’? That shit just sounds cool”

“What kind of skill is that?”

“I don’t know. The descriptions are kind of vague. It just says you become one of the beholder’s of Azalon’s breath and gain access to the dimension of fire, flame and fury”

[Dimension of fire?!]

“Yeah” Michael said. Suddenly his smile brightened, his expression shifting from awed, to slightly nervous. “I… I took it.”

[What? Seriously?]

“Yeah, I don’t feel any diff…” Michael trailed off, blinking as his movements slowed. Suddenly Caleb’s perception of the mana around them shifted, as Michael’s weight suddenly grew, changing. It warped slightly, then he felt it's intensity grow, a heat emanating from it's core. He stared wide eyed at the other boy who remained still, physically unchanged.

[Michael?]

He looked up at the rest of them, took a breath and then looked down at his hands.

[You alright man?] Mario said.

“…holy shit” he muttered. Then suddenly blue flames leapt up from both his hands, crackling as they illuminated the space. Everyone jumped backwards but Michael just laughed, then stumbled and the flames vanished as he fell to a knee. All his teammates rushed forwards and stopped him from falling to the group as he blinked surprised, then he looked up at them and smiled.

“Now we’ve definitely got fire”